DIY: 2.0T FSI Timing Belt Replacement for GTI/A3/Jetta

[Tifon]

Did my timing belt and water pump today. Thanks Zach for your diy. All went straight forward, my car had the multipoint pulley bolts and were very easy to remove, the bad part is the dealership gave me the allen bolts...
On the test drive i did a hard acceleration and on the engine sounded "boom!", and the engine stoped accelerating... When i opened the hood i saw that the noise pipe poped out. I thought i broke the engine haha. That was a scary moment...
Anyway, the car is running perfect!, thank you very much again Zach! [emoji6]

 

[Zach L]

My heart would have hit the floor if I had heard/felt that sound after working on my car! Glad it worked out.

Most of the times when people have an issue after working on their car, it's dumb little things they overlooked like forgetting to connect a plug all the way. Rarely is it something major. That's why I always prefer to relax and take my time. Nice work on your TB.

 

[oski]

Thanks Zach. I completed the timing belt on Sunday afternoon (took me about 5 hours). Ran into a slight issue when taking off the belt tensioner, the hex key hole broke off!! so I had to remove the tensioner without it being loosened. That caused the timing to be slightly off whole took me a deep breathe and some thinking to get them lined up. I had to move the cam gear slightly forward which was kinda scary. Mounted everything back up and started the car........ it was bucking so hard and my heart dropped! I almost had a panic attack LOL. So I took off the air cover any imedialy saw one of the big vacuum hoses I had to remove disconnected hahaha. Started her up again and she purred. No more noise when cold coming from the belts/rollers. So happy that I was able to save money and get some experience with BPY engine. This DIY was great thanks again!

 

[07DSG]

Had decided to get a mechanic to do this, but after a 1k
estimate, might do it myself.

Basically am worried about messing up my car. But at the
same time would be fun if I could pull it off.

 

[g60_corrado_91]

$1k with parts or without?

 

[07DSG]

With parts.

 

[g60_corrado_91]

Ah, yeah, that's about the going rate. The big thing is obviously to make sure the timing is exact, otherwise you're at more than $1k lol.

 

[07DSG]

Heh, this is a little different than changing the oil.

 

[A41.8QTM]

Is there a specific service interval for the timing belt and water pump? I just hit 80K and have never done any service aside from oil changes, fuel filter, and plugs. I'm guessing it's close to time for some of these more significant things.

 

[TycoGTI]

I'd say you're about there. Most dealers will recommend 80k. Some people can go 100k+ before the service. But you risk the belt going while driving and thats bad. Like most everything else it depends on the type of driving you do and the kind of conditions, etc. I doubt it will fail at mile 80,001, but if you have some time when you can work on the car for a day or two coming up, it's better to do it when you can plan for it.

 

[g60_corrado_91]

I had mine done at just over 100k. I know two people who went over 115k on the original one and traded them in without doing them. But as stated, if it DOES go, you've just costed yourself an engine.

 

[A41.8QTM]

I'll most likely have this done professionally and save myself the frustration.

 

[Nataraki]

I did mine at around 115K, belt still looks good at the time but I'd say 100K would be the interval to change it.

 

[A41.8QTM]

I'd love to get something new by 100k before major maintenance expenses start to hit - still on my original brakes too - but I've recently gotten comfortable with no car payment. I've just hit 80k at close to 7 years so I have another 18 months at this rate.

 

[g60_corrado_91]

I'd love to get something new by 100k before major maintenance expenses start to hit - still on my original brakes too - but I've recently gotten comfortable with no car payment. I've just hit 80k at close to 7 years so I have another 18 months at this rate.

I just turned 148k the other day. Honestly brakes aren't too pricey especially if you DIY. The only other stuff I've done are O2 sensors, oil changes, spark plugs, coilpacks, the clutch, and then suspension components. But I have driven my car harder than most with 3 years of autox and what not.